February 10, 2014

Read My Lips

My lip balm addiction collection started from a very young age, where I almost owned all the colours and flavours of Labello chapsticks. Now, having continued my obsession with lip balms, I've got enough to build an entire dollhouse. I always have at least 3 different lip balms (handbag, makeup bag, jacket) with me, wherever I go, whenever I go --my lips get chapped very easily, especially with the cold wind outside and the heater blasting indoors.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream
Eh, do I have to elaborate on this choice? Being regarded as the cult-of-cult lip balm in the beauty industry for decades, this was a rather obvious choice for me to put in here. I've been using EHC for over 6 years now and through my obsession with the product, I've accumulated all kinds of variants of the latter at home — be it a tub, bullet, pot or tube. It's the best for keeping lips moist throughout the day, as a brow set or on skin rashes.

Laboratoires Boiron Homeoplasmine
Technically not a lip product, but as per above, a multi-purpose balm. It comes in a big tube, so not per se the most on-the-go-friendly product, but its brilliant despite being chunky in the handbag. I love this as an overnight lip treatment and apply it really thickly. It's great as a lip primer as it's nourishing yet not sticky, nor slippery and has a matte finish.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm
Because of the beeswax, it's rather difficult to get the right amount of product on your fingers and then apply it onto your lips. It's quite solid, so you've got to rub quite a few times, though little goes a long way. It's 100% natural and made from a blend of nice oils. It's very fresh and minty and leaves a slight tingly feeling to the lips, which I thought was weird at first, but now I love it. Mint-haters, be aware: this is not for you.

NUXE Rêve de Miel Baume Lèvres
I think the first time I bought this was after I saw Lisa Eldridge talk about it in one of her videos. I regard Lisa's recommendations like beauty law and had to try it — and of course it didn't disappoint. Made from honey, it is a velvet balm that has a gorgeous matte finish and is great to wear below lipstick. Doesn't make it bleed, run or slip away and makes wearing those mega matte lipsticks less drying and more comfortable.

Smith's Rosebud Salve
Flashback to somewhere in the early 2000s/noughties/or whatever you'd like to call it, me and my mates started a little obsession trend at school, showing around our Rosebud Salves. Now, quite a few years later, I'm still stuck with my stash and have got strawberry, mint and eucalyptus flavoured Salves in my drawer. I love these as they're really light on the lips and you don't feel the product at all, while it's coating your lips in a nice layer of well... whatever it is. Truth to be told, it's not a natural balm, but actually more chemically based. It's just that I got my childhood memories linked to it and the tub is just so vintage-cool-looking — I can't help it okay.

Kiehl's Lip Balm #1
I adore Kiehls and I love this little tube. Lots of people I know have had mixed feeling about this, but it just works for me. Unlike most of my picks, this one leaves a rather glossy finish. Hence I wouldn't recommend to use this underneath a product, but it's great on its own when you just want to nourish your lips. Nothing fancy about it, as it does just that. I love the little tube, it looks very old school and it's really easy to just tuck into your bag. They've got fruit flavoured ones as well, if you fancy that.

I love the Nuxe Rêve de Miel, but, at the moment, I'm using the Malin + Goetz Mojito one; it's actually quite nice. I have a Rosebud Salve hanging around and I need to get back into using it. The Burt's Bees pot also looks amazing! xoLillian | parisiantobe.com

Oh Jenn, you'll love it. I've been using it every night and I wake up with perfectly moisturised lips. No oil film or anything. Also great underneath lipsticks and doesn't let the product slip away. Not sure about the Dior lip balm, but I do know that NUXE is not that expensive for what you get, especially compared to the 'big guns' in the industry. Though, I'm not quite sure how expensive NUXE products are in Canada...